There is an ever increasing need for remote sensing and monitoring systems that can monitor the status of a selected area and communicate the status of the area to a user of the system, to a location remotely located with respect to the monitoring system, or to a recording device. Such systems may be associated with security systems intended, for example, to detect motion, the presence of an intruder, or other states associated with a monitored area.
As air travel increases, airports continue to become busier and experience higher traffic not only from airplanes, but also from various support vehicles on the ground. Airports include a runways, taxiways, service vehicle lanes, gate entrances, and various other pathways that experience vehicular and airplane travel. While operators of the vehicles and airplanes are trained in the protocols and rules of traveling over these airport pathways, and certain airports may include one or more tracking systems intended to aid in monitoring movement of airplanes and vehicles throughout the airport, collisions can still occur. Such collisions can be catastrophic in view of the highly flammable fuel present on aircraft and transported by fuel trucks. These collisions may also be costly not only in terms of equipment damage, but also in view of the costs incurred as a result of flight delays and reduced service capabilities.
There is a need for monitoring systems to monitor the movements of aircraft and other vehicles over the many travel pathways found at airports (especially those with significant commercial traffic). These monitoring systems may be used either as primary or redundant movement detection systems. By monitoring the position and movements of airport traffic, situations that may result in a collision may be recognized before the collisions occur. In response, one or more aircraft or vehicles may be instructed to slow, stop, or change heading to minimize or eliminate the risk of collision. The safety of passengers, pilots, crew, and airport employees may be significantly increased by employing these types of monitoring and collision avoidance systems.
The performance characteristics of monitoring systems, especially those operating in airports or other outdoor environments, should not be dependent on environmental conditions. In fact, the need for capable collision avoidance systems actually increases as visibility due to environmental conditions decreases. For example, in the presence of fog, rain, snow, smoke, or other atmospheric particulates, visibility at an airport can be significantly reduced. During these times of reduced visibility, pilots and airport personnel may rely even more heavily on a well-functioning collision avoidance system to minimize the risk of collision with unseen aircraft or vehicles.
Further, the performance of monitoring systems should be independent of the time of day. While there is little or no solar radiation present at night to interfere with monitoring system sensors and electronics, significant amounts of solar radiation may be present during daylight hours. This solar radiation can interfere with certain monitoring systems, especially those that are optically based.
The presently disclosed systems are directed toward meeting the needs and overcoming one or more of the problems described above.